Of courage and torture
by beelzepony
Summary: Luffy gets captured by Navymen. His crew tries to break him out. Set in the New World, before Punk Hazard island. Written by Aoi.
1. Chapter 1

"Luffy!" Zolo screamed, trying to run toward his captain. The navy-men had teamed up against him, knowing that his common move "Gum-Gum Bazooka" required the teen's arms to snap back before launching forward. It was then that they did it.

Luffy fell to his knees, his face smacking into the hard ground. His hands were locked in Sea-Prism Stone, preventing him from breaking his fall. He winced, but hearing the swordsman scream, he yelled loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Guys, run! Zolo, you're in charge! Usopp, Nami, and Sanji, you guys have to behave for him, okay?" he called, knowing that those three would especially give his first mate trouble, and before he could hear a reply, a hard, heavy boot came crashing down on his head, knocking him out.

It only took Zolo a second to think. "Guys, you heard him! There're too many right now, but we'll get Luf back!" he yelled, turning to glance and make sure they were listening. Each turned and nodded, looking glum as they turned tail and fled. Zolo gave them ample time, cutting down their enemies so they wouldn't catch up to his captain's beloved crew. He soon followed, however, and saw that Sanji had lingered as well.

"What the hell, Sanji? He snapped as they ran. "He told you guys to run."

"I know," the cook replied, smiling sadly. "Lucky for you, however, I know how to get back to the ship." He said, and Zolo just followed him, not caring enough to argue. He knew everyone was worried about one person: Luffy.

"So now what, Zolo?" Nami asked, breaking the loud silence in the room. They had all headed to the kitchen out of habit, but the tension had only risen with all of them in the same room. Fingers itching, Sanji suddenly stood and walked over to the fridge, taking out some ingredients for dinner. Zolo sighed and looked each of them in the eyes before speaking.

"We go get Luffy." He said seriously, and the room fell quiet again, this time there was a buzz of emotions rippling through the air.

"Isn't that what they'd expect us to do?" Robin asked, thinking of the danger of a trap.

"No," Zolo said, making them frown. "It's what they'd expect the Straw Hat Pirates to do." He said, and they all began to protest.

"What do you mean?" Usopp huffed, sounding offended.

"Yeah, aren't we always the Straw Hat Pirates?" Chopper asked, worried. Zolo cut their complaints off with a wave of his hand.

"No, without 'Straw Hat Luffy,' we're just an unorganized group of pirates. We can be more…sneaky than the Straw Hats usually are." He smirked, and they all smiled slowly as they realized what he was saying.

"So here's the plan…"


	2. Chapter 2

The man shoved a foot under the teen's ribcage and flipped him over, assessing the kid's face long and hard. He nodded.

"This is him, all right." He smirked, then grabbed him by the hair and threw him at a group of marines. "Take him to the ship, we're headed to Impel Down." He smirked, and the others grinned and ran off with a collective 'yes sir!'

He smiled to himself. Once they got him to the prison, no one would be able to break him out since Portgaz was dead. There was always the danger of being stopped by Shanks, but he was farther out in the New World, and there was also the danger of the Straw Hat crew, but they couldn't do anything while they had their captain held hostage.

By the time they tossed Luffy into the cell, he had begun to stir. He quickly looked around. It was dark, and the cell he was in was attached to a long hallway with another cell just across from his. Dim lights shone from the ceiling every few feet. He rolled over onto his back and sat up, scooting back to lean against the wall. He looked hard into the cell across from him and saw a dark, hunched over silhouette. He frowned; squinting to try to see better, and when the figure groaned and turned over, and Luffy frowned in confusion. He never had been very good at the whole 'thinking' thing, but black thing looked too small to be an adult. He cleared his throat, realizing just how thirsty he was.

"Hey," he called softly, and the little black blob jerked to attention, then ran over to the corner. "Ha-ha! You're a funny blob!" he laughed, and the blob huffed angrily.

"I'm not a blob!" it said indignantly. "I'm a person. You're a blob!" the little person said, seeing the pirate as just a lanky blob with a weirdly shaped head. He frowned.

"I'm not a blob, I'm a pirate!" he said defensively. "But you're the first blob I've ever met…say…do you poo?" he asked, and the little person simply watched the other silhouette, astonished.

"Well…I mean…yeah," it replied. "BUT I'M NOT A BLOB! I'M A GIRL!" she yelled, and the silence that followed was almost eerie. Luffy was doing something he rarely did: thinking.

_She said she's human, but she's kinda small. She said she was a girl, and since she's so small, that makes her a little girl, right? And she's in a cell, which makes her a criminal…that means that this little girl is a criminal. I hate marines._ He thought, then looked up again. The little girl was just about to break the silence when he asked a question.

"What'd you do?" he asked, and she looked at her feet, ashamed.

"I killed someone." She whispered quietly, and his eyes widened.

"Yes, sir!" the new recruits replied, saluting, then each went their separate ways. There were four of them, and they each had separate jobs to do. One was a lookout in the crow's nest, one was a cook, one was a "janitor," so to speak, and the last was a fighter (a janitor when it was peaceful). They had all been posted on the same ship, and three of them boarded together.

"This ship is carrying my ticket to retirement, so don't screw up, okay?" the captain said to the fighter.

"Yes, sir!" he replied, and the man frowned at him.

"Don't you wanna know what I'm carrying?" the man asked, and the new recruit looked curious and almost angry, but then again, it could just be the light.

"What are we carrying, sir?" he asked, a glint of menace in his eyes.

"Maybe I'll tell you when you've earned the right to know." He smirked, and walked off to go find the new janitor to give her instructions. The fighter sighed and walked off to the men's quarters, slamming his fist as hard as he could into the pillow.

"Damn it, where the hell are they keeping him?" he growled to himself.

The captain looked at the new recruit carefully, then blindfolded her and spun her, then finally picked her up and carried her somewhere while she was still dizzy. He pulled off the blindfold and she opened her eyes to see a long hallway lined with cells on each side.

"You'll be cleaning this hallway. You look like someone I can trust. If you tell anyone about this hall way, you and they will be punished. Speaking of this place is punishable by death. No matter who talks to you and what they say, ignore them unless it's something that could put this ship and its crew members in danger." He said, and walked off. "The cleaning supplies are in that closet at the end of the hall." He said, and she waited to hear the door close and lock before walking down the hall. She didn't make eye contact with anything but the floor, but the whole time was listening as hard as she could for one voice. When she reached the closet, she opened the door and found the cleaning supplies, beginning to clean the hallway. She almost begged to hear that voice, but it never came.

"So you know how to cook, right?" the captain asked the new man.

"You could say that." he smirked. There was something about this new recruit that seemed familiar, but he wasn't sure what. They stood in awkward silence a few moments while the captain tried to figure it out.

"Well," the captain said, trying to break the silence. "The kitchen is that way, and if you talk to the other cooks, I'm sure they'll fill you in." he said, and pointed to the kitchen. "Get going."

"Yes, sir!" the recruit replied, walking into the kitchen. The other cooks glanced up from their work.

"You the new cook?" another cook asked, and the man nodded.

"I am." He said.

"Okay, get to peeling those potatoes." The man said, and the new cook looked at him offended. "Alright, look buddy, I don't care if you're the best damn cook in the world, and you're not goin' near a stove 'til you prove your worth." The older cook growled, and the man walked over to the corner to peel the potatoes, anger and hatred written all over his face, almost daring someone to talk to him. _I'm only doing this for you, shit-head, so you'd better be okay, _the new cook thought, peeling each one perfectly.

"Go on up there, and the other snipers and lookouts'll tell ya what to do from there, okay?" the captain asked the last recruit. The young man nodded and climbed the rigging up to the crow's nest. When he reached the top, there were two other men up there. One had a rifle and the other had a pair of binoculars. They welcomed him.

"You've done this kinda work before, right?" the man with the binoculars asked, and the man nodded.

"Yeah I'm the best sniper in the world!" he smirked, and the men laughed.

"Okay, then prove it!" the man with the rifle laughed, handing the new recruit the gun.

"Will do! What's my target?" he asked, making sure the gun was loaded. The men smirked.

"Well there's one thing none of us could ever do: hit that can up there." They smirked, and he took aim at the can that had been nailed to the mast solely as a target. After a moment, he pulled the trigger and a large clang was heard, making all work on the ship stop. The young recruit looked up from the rifle and handed it back to the first man.

"What did…how can…how do you…?" he asked, and the man pointed his thumb at himself.

"I am the great ca-…NAVYMAN! I am the greatest navy sharpshooter in the world!" he announced, and the crew clapped at the new recruit's awesomeness.


	3. Chapter 3

Nami looked over the charts and nodded. She looked over at Franky.

"We're gonna need to go over there in order for us to catch them before they return to the first half of the Grand Line; think we can do that?"she asked, and he nodded.

"The _Sunny_ can do anything for her captain! Of course she can!" he smirked, and she smiled.

"Great!" she grinned, then turned to look at Brook and Chopper. "Okay, I hate to ask this, but Chopper, you're going to have to get your medical supplies ready. Brook, get prepared to fight. Those guys are gonna need all the help they can get." She said, and both nodded solemnly. "Okay, guys! We're all gonna have to do our best! Keep that ship within our path, and when we get the signal, we'll intercept them, got it?" she asked, and Brook and Franky replied with a happy "Aye, Aye!"

Chopper turned and looked off in the other ship's direction silently. "WE'RE COMING, LUFFY! DON'T WORRY!" he yelled, and they all smiled softly, and each yelled their own message to the horizon, knowing they'd reach their captain's heart, even if he couldn't actually hear them.

"WE'LL GET YOU BACK, I CROSS MY HEART! BUT WAIT! I DON'T HAVE A HEART! YOHOHOHO!"

"YOUR SHIP'S WAITIN', LUFFY-BRO!"

"NO MATTER WHAT, DON'T GIVE UP, LUFFY! I SWEAR ON MY TREES WE'LL SAVE YOU!"

And with that, they lowered the sails and headed straight on the course for intercepting the naval ship and their captain.

"Why?" Luffy asked, and the little girl opened her mouth to reply when two large men stomped down the hall and opened the door in of the teen's cell, walking in.

"You're coming with us!" the navy men yelled, grabbing the pirate captain by his shirt. The teen frowned.

"Is there food there?" he asked, and the man holding him shook his head, then turned to the little girl.

"You're next, kid!" he snapped, dragging the teen down the hall to some stairs. He tossed Luffy down, then followed, and picked him up again, carrying him over to a table and laying him down.

"So…what's going on?" the pirate asked, confused, and the man grinned sadistically.

"You're going to tell us where the rest of your crew is, or we'll have to play a little game." The man said, and Luffy frowned.

"Then I pick the game." He said, and the man shrugged, then walked over to a door while his partner chained Luffy's legs to the table with the Sea-Stone, then moved to unlocking his hands from the handcuffs, only to lock those down to the table as well. The man walked back over, holding a branding iron in his hands.

"One more try, kid. Where are they?" he asked, and Luffy frowned.

"I thought we were gonna play a game." He said, and the man sighed.

"No, Straw Hat, either you tell us where your crew is, or we torture you until you do." He said, and Luffy suddenly looked serious.

"Then torture me." He said, and the man smirked.

"Oh, I will." He said, and pressed the red-hot iron to the teen's flesh, hoping to hear a scream, but when the silence reached his ears, he pressed it harder into his shoulder.

"Where are they?" he asked, and Luffy shook his head, sweat appearing on his forehead. "Fine." He growled, then pulled the iron away and walking back over to the closet, bringing out a knife. He slammed it into the pirate's hand, and he grit his teeth as the pain shot up his arm.

"I. Won't. Tell. You." He growled, and the man twisted the knife, making Luffy gasp, but he said nothing. The man removed the knife, only to slam it down into the pirate's forearm. He waited for a response, and when there was only silence, he continued to stab the teen's arm until there was nowhere left to stab on that arm. The man glared at Luffy.

"Tell me where the hell they are!" he yelled, and Luffy bit his lip in a wince and shook his head.

"No." the man unlatched his hands and feet and grabbed him by the hair, shoving his head into a barrel of cold water, holding him there until his struggles began to die down while his partner handcuffed him again. He ripped his head out of the water, and Luffy coughed, instinctively trying to get the water from his lungs.

"Tell me!" he yelled, shaking the boy, and he only shook his head. He glared at the boy and looked at his partner, who grinned, the same glint of malice in his eyes. He walked over to a cage full of mad dogs that the kept for 'emergencies.' He picked lifted Luffy by the throat.

"Final chance!" he growled, and Luffy smirked.

"Over my dead body." He coughed, and the man smiled.

"Challenge accepted." He said, throwing the boy into the cage, and snarls met his ears, quickly replaced with whimpers.

"WHAT THE…?" he asked, turning to see the dogs licking the blood his wounds. The man slammed his fist into the bloody table. "DAMN YOU!" he snarled, and Luffy smirked.

"Whoops!" he laughed, and the man stalked over to the cage, grabbing Luffy out by his throat, slamming him against the wall.

"TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE, DAMMIT!" he growled, and Luffy shook his head. "Okay, that's it…" he sighed, dragging the teen to the wall, locking the handcuffs to a hook on the wall. He walked back over, holding spiked brass knuckles. He put them on and punched Luffy in the face, watching, the teen's head snap to the side in satisfaction as he spat blood from his mouth. He smiled. "This'll be fun, pirate…"

The janitor walked down the hall to put the cleaning supplies away when she found a door in the closet. She frowned. _That's odd…_ she thought, opening the door. The sound of a little girl crying reached her ears. _Maybe it's a ghost, _she mused, decidedly walking through the threshold. She saw that it was a hallway just like the first one. She stopped when she reached the cell the crying was coming from.

"Are you a ghost?" she asked, and the little girl stopped crying, looking up.

"NO!" she yelled angrily. "I'm not a ghost, and I'm not a blob! I'm a girl!" she said angrily, and the janitor laughed softly.

"I never called you a blob, though!" she chuckled, and the little girl frowned.

"I know that!" she said indignantly. "But that other guy did!" she frowned, and the janitor frowned.

"Who?" she asked, and the little girl began crying again.

"The guy in the cage across from me!" she said, and the janitor turned around, seeing a small shadow that made her blood run cold. "When they took him, his head fell off!" she said, and the janitor looked through the bars of the cell to see her worst fears had come true. On the floor of the cell was the silhouette of the shape she had begun to associate with hope: the straw hat. She frowned deeply and suppressed a shiver of unease. She turned back to the little girl.

"Did he say he was…a pirate?" she asked, and the little girl nodded.

"Yeah, he did. Why?" she asked, and the janitor knelt down to look the little girl in the eyes.

"My name is Robin, and the guy across from you is my captain. I'm here to help get him out of here," she whispered, and the little girl's eyes widened in the darkness. "I promise I'll get you out, just promise me you won't tell anyone about me." She said, and the little girl nodded.

"I promise, Miss Robin. But can I tell the other guy about you?" she asked, and Robin nodded.

"Yes, in fact I've got a message for him. Tell him I said this, are you ready?" she asked, and the little girl nodded. "Good then tell him I said 'Zolo, Usopp, Sanji and I are all here, and the others have the ship. We're going to get you and this little gir-" she said, and the little girl interrupted her.

"My name is Wisteria. Go on." She smirked, and Robin nodded.

"'We're going to get you and Wisteria out, just hold on a little longer.' Got all that?" she asked, and Wisteria nodded.

"You said 'Zolo, Usopp, Sanji and I are all here, and the others have the ship. We're going to get you and Wisteria out, just hold on a little longer.' That's it, isn't it?" she asked, and Robin nodded, astounded.

"Okay, I'll come back later, just make sure he gets that message." She said, standing to leave.

"Wait!" Wisteria called, and Robin turned. "Is…um…are you pirate?" she asked, and Robin nodded.

"Yes, why?" she asked, and the little girl sighed.

"So…your captain doesn't…eat people?" she asked nervously, and the woman laughed.

"No, he's pretty harmless until you make him angry. You don't have to worry about anyone but the marines. They're the ones that have to watch out for his wrath." She smirked, and Wisteria breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew. I was worried." She said quietly.

"No, Luffy's probably the nicest person on this boat!" she laughed as she walked away.

"Well that's a relief." Wisteria thought to herself, then froze. "Luffy? As in…Straw Hat Luffy?" she wondered, staring at the hat silhouette on the ground in fear and awe.


	4. Chapter 4

Luffy coughed as his head was pulled from the cold water again. He couldn't even feel the pain in his arm anymore, compared to the pain on the rest of his body. The torturer threw him onto the floor and grabbed a hot coal from the side of the room where the heater was. He held the coal mere millimeters from the pirate's face, and smirked as the teen whimpered, unable to hide his pain anymore.

"Look, kid." The torturer said, squatting down in front of the pirate. "I'm really tired of this, and I'm sure you are, too." He said, and Luffy nodded. "So I'll give you a chance to make this all go away. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he asked, and the teen nodded weakly again. "All you gotta do is answer one simple question, okay? Where is your crew, Luffy?" he asked as gently as he could, and Luffy shook his head and closed his eyes, steeling himself for the pain.

"I…can't…" he said quietly, his voice raw from screaming from all the torture. He was bleeding awfully from several wounds, and they had awoken several times when he passed out from pain.

"Why not?" the man prodded, hoping to find something out.

"'Cuz…" he whispered. "You'd hurt 'em. I'm the captain; I gotta protect them." He said quietly, his eyes snapping wide open as the man pressed the hot coal against the raw skin of his stomach. He screamed loudly, and finally passed out one last time, and the man sighed angrily and removed the coal from the prisoner's stomach. He turned to his partner.

"Take him up to his cell and go get yourself some lunch; I'll clean up here." He said, and the other man smiled.

"Well, thanks!" he replied, dragging the bloody teen out by the back of his shirt.

"No problem, friend," he said, taking the mop out of the closet and beginning to wash the bloody floor. "You take care now."

"You too, see you later!" the other man said, walking back up the stairs. When he reached Luffy's cell, he opened the door, then tossed him in and slammed the door, walking off with a happy whistle. Wisteria waited until the second torturer came up and left as well to speak, the ragged breathing that broke the silence unnerving her.

"M-Mr. Luffy?" she asked quietly, and he didn't reply, just coughed weakly, sending a shiver down her spine. She gasped when she saw a dark liquid spreading from underneath the pirate's hunched form. His irregular breathing was the only movement of his as he laid there.

"Somebody come help!" she yelled, her small voice echoing through the empty hall. "Luffy! You've gotta wake up! Your crew is waiting for you! You've gotta be okay for Robin and Zolo and Sanji and Usopp and the rest of your crew!" she yelled, and was met by silence again. "PLEASE WAKE UP, LUFFY!" she yelled, and her plea was accented by the sound of canon fire.

The sniper had seen them first.

"Isn't that a pirate ship?" the new recruit Usopp asked, and the other two frowned, walking over.

"Actually, I think it is…" one man answered, passing the younger man the rifle. "Can you hit 'em?" he asked, and Usopp smirked.

"I hit the can, didn't I?" he asked, aiming and pulling the trigger, shooting down the other man in the crow's nest of the pirate ship.

"Nice shot!" the man smiled, and Usopp grinned.

"Just doin' my job." He said, and saw people running around on deck, knowing that he'd see one of his crewmates.

"So where'd you learn to shoot like that?" asked the man with binoculars. His name was Jack. Usopp shrugged.

"My hometown; I used to shoot the pirates that tried to invade my village as a kid." He smirked, thinking of Luffy, Zolo, and Nami.

"Where was that?" the other man asked, whose name was Bill.

"It's called Syrup Village. It's in the East Blue." He said, taking another shot.

"You're from the East Blue?" Jack asked.

"Isn't that where Straw Hat Luffy's from?" asked Bill.

"Yep." Usopp said, hitting a few more pirates to have an excuse for the sweat on his brow.

The fighter ran out of the men's quarters and outside to the deck, getting out just in time to feel the ship tilt and see the captain fly overboard. So used to connecting the word 'Captain' to 'Luffy,' he quickly ran to the side of the boat and leapt overboard, swimming as fast as he could towards the sinking white blob. He grabbed the man by the back of his shirt, grunting mentally at how heavy the man was compared to Luffy. He swam back up to the surface and called for someone to throw a rope over, confused at the silence. Eventually, a rope was thrown over the side.

He grabbed it and tied the captain to the end, yanking the rope as he grabbed on and the rope was slowly pulled up. When they reached the deck, he began to pump the man's chest, getting the water out of the captain's lungs. He sighed softly, turning the man onto his side as the water rushed from his nose and mouth.

"Y-You're a hero, soldier!" one of the officers yelled gleefully. "What's your name?"

"Z…Zack." The man said, stopping himself before he said 'Zolo.'

"Well you're a hero, Zack." The man grinned, and Zolo sighed. He knew he'd never get used to that name.

"So…what happened?" he asked, looking around at the peaceful marines.

"Oh, that new sniper of ours did the greatest thing ever! He shot all of the pirates and sank their ship! Isn't that amazing?" he asked, looking up at the crow's nest in admiration.

Zolo sighed again. They needed to hurry up and get Luffy back. Fast.


	5. Chapter 5

Luffy coughed and groaned, shifting painfully as his eyes slowly opened. He sat up slowly and retched, puking up blood in the corner. He glanced around, looking for his hat and when he saw it lying off to the side, he relaxed a bit.

Wisteria smiled weakly. "Mr. Luffy?" she asked quietly, and his head snapped up.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, his voice so raw that she almost wished she hadn't made him speak.

"A lady came down here, she said you were her captain." She said quietly, and she saw him bristle in worry.

"What'd she look like?" he asked, then coughed again, spitting blood onto the floor.

"I dunno." She said quietly, wincing in sympathy. "It was too dark, but she said her name was Robin." She said, and Luffy relaxed a little to know that she wasn't lying. "She told me to tell you this: 'Zolo, Usopp, Sanji and I are all here, and the others have the ship. We're going to get you and Wisteria out, just hold on a little longer.'" She said, and Luffy relaxed even more, leaning back against the wall, then he looked confused.

"Who's Wistermy?" he asked, and she sighed.

"It's _Wisteria, _and that's my name." she said, and Luffy felt his strength wane until he had to put his full weight onto the wall.

"You never answered my question." He said quietly, and her head snapped up in confusion.

"Which one?" she asked, and he frowned.

"Why'd you kill a guy?" he asked, and she looked down at her feet.

"I killed my father because he deserved it." She said quietly, and he looked confused, so she went in depth.

"It was awhile ago, when I was about 9 years old, I think…"

_ "Wisteria, be a dear and grab me that brush over there so I can brush your hair." said a frail, sickly woman. The little girl stood from her coloring book and ran off to go grab the brush from the dresser, handing it to the old woman then turning around and sitting on the floor. The woman smiled softly, pulling the brush through the little girl's long, lilac hair. A tall man walked into the room, and glared at the old woman._

_ "Why are you still here?" he snarled at the elderly woman, who set the brush down gently on the shelf. She stood and looked down at Wisteria as she grabbed her bag._

_ "Wisteria, honey, be a dear and help me get my things together." She said, gathering her belongings together in her arms. At that, the man slapped the items out of her hands, making all of them fall to the floor._

_ "Leave that shit here!" He growled, and she stood up straight, continuing to walk towards the door as he continued to yell. The woman grabbed her cane and bit her lip in silence, tears forming in her eyes as a loud slap echoed through the house, followed by the sobs of a little girl._

_ "Granny, help me!" the little girl cried, and the woman stifled a sob as she hobbled down the lane to her own house._

**_The next day…_**

****_Miss Wharf cupped the little girl's chin in her hand, looking over her pretty pale face. She smiled softly._

_ "What a pretty thing you are, dear." She said, and Wisteria's eyes filled with tears as the elderly woman laid the ice pack gently against the large bloody bruise on the little girl's face. She whimpered softly._

_ "Granny, it hurts…it hurts so much. Am I a bad girl?" she asked quietly, and Miss Wharf shook her head no._

_ "No, sweetie; you're the most well behaved little girls I've ever met." She tutted, removing the ice pack and placing a large bandage over it._

_ "So then…why does Papa hit me?" she asked quietly, and the old woman sighed softly._

_ "Wisteria, sometimes in this world, there are people who get very angry because something's missing in their life. I don't know what it is in your Papa's case, but he's hurting somewhere deep inside." She whispered, and the little girl smiled._

_ "Do you think flowers would help?" she asked, and the old woman shrugged._

_ "I don't know, sweetie." She said, and Wisteria got up and ran out of the house, coming back inside with flowers in her hand._

_ "Are these pretty enough?" she asked, and suddenly the front door burst open._

_ "What the hell have I told you, old woman? You leave when you hear me come home!" the man yelled, and Wisteria ran up to her Papa holding the flowers._

_ "Papa! I picked these just for you! Do they make you happy?" she asked, and the father simply slapped the little girl, sending her sprawling. He stormed over to the couch and plopped down._

_ "Kid, go get your Daddy a drink why don't you?" he snapped, and Wisteria struggled to her feet, walking to the kitchen, tears in her eyes as she nursed a new bruise on her face._

_ "Yes, Papa." She mumbled, and Granny felt her hands clench into fists._

_ "Wisteria, honey, come here." She seethed, and the little girl stopped, turning to face her nanny._

_ "What is it, Granny?" she asked, and the old woman flinched at the girl's hollow voice._

_ "Just come here, sweetie. You're coming home with me tonight." She whispered, and the girl looked over at her father who was glaring coldly at the elderly woman. He stood slowly, shoving Wisteria out of the way as he moved towards the old woman. He glowered at her, but the elderly woman looked up at him defiantly._

_ "What're you trying to do, wench?" he asked coldly, and Miss Wharf stared back evenly._

_ "I'm trying to save a little girl from a monster." She said, and the man didn't hesitate to slap the old woman, who took the hit, and slowly turned her head back to face him. "You can't stop me." She growled, and he kicked her to the wall, yelling insults as he beat the old woman. She took each hit and yelled for Wisteria to run, but the little girl didn't move. She was frozen. When the man finished, he walked away, leaving behind a bloody mess that had once been a jovial, shining woman. The little girl shook with rage and sadness, though tears wouldn't come to her eyes._

_ "Now, kid, go get me a drink." The man said, walking back over to the couch, and Wisteria suddenly felt cold and calm._

_ "No." she said quietly, and the man glared at his daughter._

_ "Excuse me?" he asked menacingly, and she turned to him, her grey eyes cold and empty. She walked over to him, then in a rush of adrenaline was upon him, holding a knife to his neck._

_ "I said no." she whispered cruelly. "You boss people around, Papa. You killed Mommy, and now you killed Granny. Before she died, Mommy told me I had a little brother, and you killed him too. Granny told me that you get angry and hit people because something's missing and you're hurting, but hurt isn't a reason to hit people." She said, and her emotionless face sent a shiver down her father's spine._

_ "Why not? They all deserved it, especially that old woman." He said, and Wisteria saw red._

**_Three days later…_**

****_"Can you tell me what happened?" a kind-looking man asked, looking nervously at the little girl._

_ "Revenge." She whispered emptily. She was on a naval ship, and had been there since she'd been found standing in a bloody mess, a knife in her hand. There were two corpses, one of an old woman, and one of the girl's father. The man had gashes all over him and had bled to death, while the old woman had been beaten to death. There were traces of the woman's blood on the man's knuckles, and there were signs of abuse on the little girl, but she was the only witness._

_ "Did you kill Miss Wharf?" he asked, showing her a picture of the old woman. The girl picked up the picture, tracing over the old woman's face in silence for awhile, and shook her head, replacing the picture on the table. The navy man pulled out another picture, this one was of the man._

_ "Did you kill your father?" he asked, handing Wisteria the picture. A dark look crossed her face, and she dropped the picture, turning to look the navy man in the eyes._

_ "Yes." She whispered coldly, sealing her fate._


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh." Luffy said quietly when Wisteria finished her story.

"Do you think I'm a demon-child?" she asked bitterly, and Luffy frowned, then shrugged.

"I dunno." He coughed, and the door to the hallway slammed open, two men stopping in front of Wisteria's cell.

"You're comin' with us, kid!" one man said, ripping open the cell door and grabbing her roughly by the arm. Luffy frowned angrily as he heard the girl scream.

"Wait." He said quietly, and the men froze. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, and staggered to the door, almost falling against the cold bars. "Leave her alone." He said, and the man threw her back against the wall, turning around to look at Luffy.

"What, you haven't had enough pain, pirate? Trying to be the valiant one?" the man asked cruelly, and the man ripped the cell door open, grabbing Luffy roughly by the collar of his shirt.

"You think you can hurt me?" he asked, daring the man to hit him. The man laughed.

"Fine; I'll take you on with that bet, but the first peep I hear from you, I'll come back up here and grab the kid, got it?" he asked and the pirate nodded.

"I'd have to be stupid not to." He said coldly, and the man grinned evilly.

"Good." He smirked, and carried Luffy down the hall. Wisteria could only watch in silence.

"Zack." The captain said, and Zolo bristled, instinctively reaching for his sword. "Whoa, hey, relax, Zack!" the captain smiled, sitting down next to the new recruit.

"Can I help you cap'n?" he asked, stabbing the meat on his plate and shoving it into his mouth. _Sanji is __**definitely**_ _not cooking in there…_ he thought disappointedly as the Captain continued speaking.

"Yes. This morning I noticed a certain…malice about you when we were under attack." The man smirked. "And that got me thinking; you might need a job change." He said, and the swordsman's blood ran cold at the vicious way he had said the last two words. He calmly drank his tea.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked, finishing his meal.

"Torturer." The man whispered, and Zolo froze, then stood and threw away his trash, placing his tray on the counter before returning to the captain.

"When do I start?" he asked, and the man grinned.

"Right now." He smirked. "Follow me." He said, and then walked out of the kitchen, Zolo following close behind.

Eventually, the captain led Zolo down some stairs and into a long, dark hallway. Zolo shivered, expecting to hear moans of pain, but each cell they passed was empty. He frowned when the captain opened a closet at the end of the hall, then shuddered as another door opened and the sound of a girl crying reached his ears. The captain frowned. "Shut up, brat!" he yelled, and Zolo felt every part of his body freeze in fear when he heard the little girl's reply.

"Give back Luffy!" she yelled, and the swordsman looked at his feet nervously when he heard a _squelch_ noise come from under his boot. Even in the dim light he could tell that it was blood that he was standing in. He glanced over into the cell on his right to see the shadow of his captain's hat on the floor. He shuddered again, then turned to look at the little girl to the left of him.

"You're evil," she whispered, glaring up at the captain. "Luffy is a good person, you're not."

"Shut up, you little murderer." The captain snapped. "He's a pirate, of course he's not good." He sighed, rolling his eyes. Zolo had to physically restrain himself from killing the man as he was led down the hallway to another door. When they walked through, and overwhelming smell of blood and burnt skin reached his nose, making him cover his nose.

"Smelly, I know, but you'll get used to it." The captain said, and Zolo froze as he turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs. In front of him lay a scene that made his blood boil in hatred, anger, and guilt. Luffy, the man that had saved his life and trusted him wholly, his captain, was lying on the ground, bleeding awfully from wounds he couldn't even begin to count, in front of a pair of thickly built marines. Luffy made eye contact with Zolo and smiled softly.

"Boys," the navy captain began, and the two turned to face him. "This is Zack. He's going to join you two as a torturer. Get him started." He grinned, and one torturer picked up Luffy by the front of his vest and chained him to the wall, and Zolo could see that his captain was struggling to stand. He winced slightly, and the torturers turned to look at him.

"Alrighty, Zack. First, grab your weapon of choice. Keep in mind, this guy's rubber, so pick something sharp." He grinned, and Zolo tentatively walked over to the closet and grabbed a knife. He walked back over to stand in front of Luffy. "Now ask him where the hell his crew is." The torturer said, and the swordsman felt his stomach knot in guilt.

_Luffy's going through all this pain just because he's not telling them where we are…_ he thought, feeling nauseous at the thought.

"and if he doesn't answer, then stab him until he does." The torturer smirked, and Zolo swallowed the knot in his throat, but still found himself unable to speak. He looked almost apologetic to his captain, his eyes close to betraying his true emotions. The torturer and naval captain frowned. "Are you gonna do your job, recruit, or do we have to teach you by example." The torturer asked, and Luffy's eyes widened, realizing by the man's tone that they were threatening his first mate.

"So are you gonna ask me, or what?" the pirate in front of him asked, and he snapped back to attention, looking lost and anxious.

"What?" 'Zack' asked, confused.

"Do you even know how to use that?" he asked, and Zolo frowned confusedly. "Y'know, there's this lazy guy on my crew, and all he does is sleep all day. He's supposed to be my first mate, Roronoa Zolo, I'm sure you've heard of him, but he's just so lazy. He says he wants to be the best swordsman in the world, but he can't even win in a fight against my cook." Luffy laughed, sounding almost cruel. "You holding that little thing makes me think of him; he shakes just like you are when he doesn't know what to do. He's a coward, and an insult to swordsmen everywhere." He said, and Zolo snapped, stabbing Luffy in the shoulder without thinking, blinded by rage. He immediately calmed down when he felt the blade shaking in his grip. He looked up to see that his captain was shaking in pain. The torturers were congratulating him loudly, so he could barely hear the words his captain said.

"Good job, Zolo…I know I can always trust you…" he said, then passed out against the wall. Zolo's eyes widened and he backed away a few steps, tripping and falling backwards, the torturer catching him.

"That's enough for today." the captain said as he turned, leading the three out of the torture room, the last man carrying the young pirate, and it took everything Zolo had not to scream as he stepped into the puddle of blood again on the way out.

When they reached the deck of the ship, it was already dark. The captain dismissed the two torturers, then turned to Zolo.

"Great job, Zack. I'm glad I can trust you." He smirked, and it took almost everything the pirate had not to run back to his cabin screaming.


	7. Chapter 7

This is the longest chapter, and the next one's kinda short ^-^;

When he reached the cabin, he saw that Sanji, Usopp, and Robin (well, her torso at least) were having a meeting.

"Zolo, are you okay?" Usopp asked, assessing the pale swordsman worriedly, and Zolo's legs gave out, making him slide to the floor.

"I…just stabbed Luffy…" he whispered, and Sanji looked livid immediately.

"What? What happened?" he asked angrily, and Zolo explained the story of how he'd instinctively saved the captain, gotten a job change, and been goaded into stabbing their captain. The reactions around the room were different, Robin's expression was one of pity, and Usopp's was one of anger, but by far the most surprising was Sanji's. He looked proud and, the swordsman looked up at the cook confusedly.

"What are you smiling about?" Zolo asked, and Sanji smiled at his crewmates sadly.

"Luffy just saved us all…again." he said quietly, confusing the others more, so he decided to explain. "Since you were taking a long time to answer, Luffy knew it would make you look suspicious, so knowing what makes you tick, he insulted you until you attacked him." He said, and Zolo put his head in his hands.

"Damn it…" he said, and Robin smiled softly, then looked around at them.

"I also have something to report; we have yet another person to save other than Luffy." She said, and they all looked up at her.

"What?" Zolo asked, then remembered the little girl. "You mean the kid?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I promised her we'd get her out if she gave Luffy the message that we're all here." She said, and they all nodded. "Her name is Wisteria, and she's still a kid, we can't just leave her here." She said, and Sanji smiled.

"If you made a promise, we can't break it. That'd ruin our reputation!" he smirked, and the other pirates laughed.

"Well then, we know where Luffy is now, right?" Usopp asked, and Robin nodded. "So then I say we should put our plan into action? By how Zolo looked a few minutes ago, Luffy's gotta be in pretty bad shape." He said, thinking aloud, and they all nodded.

"Luffy looks awful." Zolo said, thinking back. "I'm not a doctor, but he looked like he was going to just bleed to death soon." He said quietly, and Usopp stood up.

"Then we gotta do this tonight." He said, and Sanji nodded.

"I agree. The worse condition he's in, the sooner we should do this." The cook said, and Zolo nodded, standing back up as well.

"I agree as well." He said, then turned to Robin. "Give the signal, we're moving out; tonight." He said, ripping the door open. He turned back to the three. "Usopp, you and Robin go get Luffy and the kid. You're with me, Dart-Boy." He smirked, and Sanji grinned.

"You got it, Marimo!" he smirked, and Robin turned to Usopp.

"I just gave them the signal. Meet me by the kitchen." She smirked, and Usopp nodded

"Will do." He nodded, and ran out of the room as her torso disappeared.

Nami yawned as an arm shook her awake. She groaned and opened her eyes, rolling over to see Robin's face sticking out of the wall. She gasped, then calmed down and smiled.

"Is it time?" Nami asked, and Robin nodded, then disappeared, and Nami leapt out of bed, running to the men's quarters, slamming her fist on the door. "Guys, get up!" she yelled happily, then ran to the charts room, smiling like a madman as she called out orders, grinning even wider as Franky and Brook replied with "Yes ma'ams", while Chopper was down in the infirmary preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. The fear of the worst was written across all of their hearts, but they all knew that they'd get their captain back, dead or alive.

Usopp followed Robin through the hallways, frowning as he heard a quiet moan of pain coming from a cell near the end, making them both flinch. When they reached the cell, Usopp gasped, seeing a hunched over figure in one cell, the breath coming from it rattling weakly in its throat.

"Is…is that…?" he asked, and Robin nodded sadly. The sniper swallowed the lump in his throat and went to pick the lock of the cell only to find that it wasn't even closed all the way. Usopp opened the cell angrily, confusing Robin. "They beat him so bad that they didn't even lock the door…they knew he couldn't get up."

"Robin? I-is that you?" Wisteria asked quietly, and the woman squatted down, smiling.

"Yep! We're here to get you and Luffy out." She said, then stood to pick the lock of the cell. She slumped over as soon as she touched it, and then felt something grab her by the back of her shirt and pull her back. She turned to see Usopp steadying her. She smiled in appreciation, then frowned sadly, seeing the thin, familiar form of her captain draped over the sniper's arm. She walked over to him and gently lifted the captain from his shoulder, bearing the light weight of the rubber man as Usopp picked the lock of Wisteria's cage. Usopp handed Wisteria the famous straw hat.

"Hold that so my hands are free." He smiled, and she nodded happily. When they reached the deck, they saw a large mess of marines flying everywhere and shouting commands as they swarmed Zolo and Sanji. When Zolo saw his crewmates emerge, he winced at his bloody captain, then shook the guilt from his mind.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

"Okay, but be careful…"

"They're not that far away."

"Still, you-know-who would kill me if I didn't say that."

"Yeah…I know. Just come when you can, okay guys?"

"Will do."

Usopp shot a large seed that instantly grew into a plant and tossed a few marines off the ship. Sanji kicked a few with his burning _diable jambe_ attack, Robin was snapping a few necks and backs with her flowering arms, and Zolo was…well, slicing navy men like some sort of demon (as per usual). When Sanji looked up to check on Robin, he saw Luffy's bloody, weak state, and gasped, barely dodging the oncoming attack from his enemy. He turned to the fight to soon to see his captain wake up, though.

"Let go…put me down." Came a quiet groan from their captain, and Robin looked down from the fight to see his eyes open. She called out Zolo's name, who was the closest, and he nodded, knowing she wanted him to guard her as she sat Luffy down gently, leaning him back against the ship.

"Luffy, you're awake." She smiled, and he frowned.

"Where's Wisteria? Didja get her out? She said you said you would." He said quietly, and Robin nodded, pointing to the little girl holding his hat. "Okay then," he said, slowly pushing himself away from the railing of the ship. The archaeologist's eyes widened and she gasped as he slowly staggered to his feet, wobbling slightly as he took a step forward. She watched him close his eyes, willing his limbs to move, and covered her mouth sadly.

"Luffy, please…" she began, but he ignored her and limped forward anyway, pulling back his fist and sending a marine flying across the ship and into the water, sending a few others with him. Zolo turned to see what had made that happen, and gasped, running forward to steady his bloody captain.

"Luffy, go sit down." He said sternly, and the teen looked up at him almost angrily.

"Make me." He spat, and Zolo could see the pure rage of a caged animal set free in his captain's eyes.

"Please, you're hurt enough." Usopp said quietly, and Luffy spun to face the sniper with wild ferocity, although his face held the look of a protector, and Robin shook her head sadly, realizing he was still trying to protect them, hurt as he was.

"I have to make sure you gu-" he began, and suddenly his face went blank and he fell forward onto Zolo's fist. The swordsman began to slowly let his captain down to the deck, and Wisteria ran over, shoving a marine's rolled-up coat under his head. Robin smiled softly, and as Sanji made his way over to them, the four pirates made a protective circle around the little girl and their beloved captain.

After a few minutes, Zolo heard a knocking at the side of the ship and glanced over his shoulder to see Nami waving at them from the _Mini Merry,_ a small grin on her face. He frowned slightly. _She obviously hasn't seen Luffy, yet…_ he thought, and nudged Robin. Robin glanced over and smiled, letting Zolo take her place as she walked over and leaned down to pick up the teen.

"Wisteria, go ahead and hop down, Nami will catch you." She said, and the girl smiled, leaping off the side, the navigator catching the girl in surprise.

"Hello." The girl smiled, and Nami set her down gently in the boat.

"You're not Luffy." Nami frowned, and Wisteria shook her head.

"Nope!" she chuckled, and the navigator was about to respond when Robin called her name.

"Nami! Can you carry Luffy?" she asked, and the other woman frowned.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, and Robin didn't answer, hands sprouting from the side of the boat as a sort of ladder.

"Be gentle." Robin said quietly, and before Nami could ask why, Robin gently lifted Luffy over the railing and slowly the hands passed the bloody teen down to her. She gasped.

"Oh my god…" she said, taking Luffy in her arms in time to see his eyes flutter open again slightly.

"Nami?" he asked quietly, and she nodded, kneeling next to him in the small boat. "Oh, I could've sworn it was Robin that was on the boat," he said, then gasped in pain and passed out again. she grit her teeth in sorrow, then looked back up at her crewmate.

"Robin! Brook and Franky are bringing the _Sunny_ this way as well, so I'll see you again in a bit!" she smiled, and her friend nodded, then turned back to the battle. Nami glanced back at Wisteria. "Hold on! If Luffy falls out of this boat, I'll make you save him." She said, and sped off before the girl could answer. Not two minutes later, she was docking the _Mini Merry. _She ran up to the deck, Chopper's eyes nearly popping out of his head when he saw Luffy.

"To the infirmary!" he yelled. "Hurry!" he said, even though she was already headed there. Wisteria followed them since the little reindeer had grabbed her hand as well and was pulling her along behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Brook felt a familiar stirring of worry in his soul when he saw Luffy in such a sad state. To put it best, he was afraid, no, terrified to lose another captain. Suddenly, he felt a large hand pat him once on the back, and looked over at Franky, who smiled reassuringly.

"You already know this, but that kid's super strong, and has a wild will to live. He's not goin' anywhere." He smirked, and Brook felt his spirits lighten as the marine ship came into view. In a fit of excitement, the skeleton leapt off the ship and ran across the water, leaping up to the naval ship, landing on the boat with his trademark "Yohohohohoho!"

"Glad you could join us!" Sanji laughed, sending several marines flying with a kick. The skeleton laughed again.

"Yohohoho! I'm grinning ear to ear!" he laughed, slicing through a few marines before adding, "But wait! I don't have ears!" Zolo simply rolled his eyes. When the _Thousand Sunny_ was close enough, Franky leapt over and began plowing through marines left and right with different beams and cannons, making the sniper's eyes twinkle with excitement.

Eventually, all the marines were down, whether it was by slashes, broken necks, getting eaten by giant plants or burned, getting shot or blasted off the ship, and still others that had been kicked. There were only three left standing, and as Sanji was about to run at them, a hand snaked out and snatched the back of his shirt.

"They're mine." Zolo said lethally, and Sanji nodded unexpectedly and stepped back.

"Well, well, well." Said one of the leftover three. "If it isn't 'Zack.' Who knew you were actually Straw Hat Luffy's first mate Roronoa Zo-" one of the torturers began, gasping as cold steel pressed against his throat.

"Can it, lunkhead, I'm not interested in preliminaries." He snapped, and slashed him down easily. "Seems all that beating up made you soft." He growled, slashing down the second torturer down easily. He turned to the captain.

"Don't think I'll be so easy, Roronoa." The captain said, drawing his own sword. In a flash of steel, they were fighting. The crew watched the fight in amazement, as they always did when they saw Zolo fight. However in this fight, it seemed as though Zolo had met his equal. Every slash made, the other had a counter, every counter made, the other blocked. The fight dragged on for what seemed like hours for the fighters, but was only a few minutes until they launched each other to opposite sides of the ship.

"Zolo…" Sanji began, and the swordsman glared daggers at his rival.

"What?" he snapped, and suddenly the cook's face grew hard with hatred and anger.

"For Luffy." He said quietly, and Zolo nodded, understanding what he meant.

"Sorry." He said, standing and replacing the Wado Ichimonji in his mouth. He bit down as hard as he could, and ran at the man, not waiting for him to get up. The air grew cold and dark, bordering demonic.

"Asura Silver Mist!" he growled, slicing the man's chest open mercilessly, leaving the naval officer near death. He straightened and walked back over to the captain who was gasping weakly for breath. He held a sword to his neck.

"If you touch my captain again, I won't hesitate to kill you next time." He growled viciously, sounding like a wild animal. He sheathed his swords and walked back towards his crew, who nodded at him silently. They would congratulate him later, but now was a time of silence and waiting.

"Okay," he said, breaking the tension-filled silence. "Search this ship for supplies." He said, and they nodded, running off as he continued to walk toward the ship.

"Hey Marimo!" Sanji snapped. "Where're you off to?" he asked, and Zolo turned, looking worried and almost sad.

"Luffy." He said, and for once, Sanji didn't argue. He simply nodded once and walked off to clear the pantry.


	9. Chapter 9

The wait was agonizing, and Wisteria looked over at the doctor. "Mr. Tanuki?" she asked, and Chopper sighed angrily.

"I'm a reindeer, and what?" he asked, and she smiled softly.

"Can I go now?" she asked, and he nodded. She didn't even wait to hear his warnings before walking out of the suffocating, sterile-smelling infirmary. As soon as she walked out, she smelled something delicious, and followed her nose into the kitchen. She looked around to see a Robin sitting at the table along with the man with the long nose and the blonde man who she hadn't even heard speak. She also saw the thickly built blue-haired man and gasped slightly. Robin smiled.

"Hello, Wisteria." She said, and the room fell silent, making the girl shift awkwardly. The black-haired woman smiled again. "Don't be nervous, these guys bite even less than Luffy. We're all mostly harmless on this ship." She said, and Wisteria walked closer. Robin pointed at the long nosed man who was currently chewing lazily on a fork, waiting for the cook to finish dinner. "That's Usopp. He's the sniper on this ship. He's one of the people who's been here the longest." She smiled, and he waved sleepily.

"Hi!" he grinned. "You've heard of the Great Captain Usopp, brave warrior of the seas, haven't you?" he asked, and she shook her head in wide eyed amazement.

"I thought Mr. Luffy was the captain!" she said, and everyone laughed.

"Don't bother with the 'Mr.,'" the cook smirked. "He's the most childish of all of us." He said, causing another round of laughter.

"That's Sanji, he's the cook." She smiled, and Wisteria's eyes widened.

"Sanji as in 'Blackleg' Sanji?!" she asked, and he smirked.

"The one and only!" he said, and when he turned, she gasped again, and he frowned in confusion. "What?" he asked.

"You look nothing like your wanted poster!" she said, and he grimaced, turning back to his cooking sadly. She frowned. "What's wrong?" she asked, and the big man at the end of the table smirked.

"That's been a touchy subject for two years, now." He said, and everyone chuckled quietly.

"That's Franky," Robin went on, nodding at the man at the end of the table. "He's the shipwright, and as a matter of fact, he actually built this ship, the _Thousand Sunny._" She smiled, and Wisteria's eyes widened in amazement.

"Whoa, really?" she asked, and he nodded proudly.

"Yep! It's super, isn't it?" he asked, and she could only nod. Sanji walked over to the table with seven steaming plates of food, each cooked to perfection. He placed each in specific spots, leaving the head of the table open, and everyone regarded it apprehensively, hoping against hope that the person who usually sat there would be sitting there tonight.

"Sit here, Wisteria, since Nami isn't joining us tonight." Robin smiled warmly, and the girl sat in the chair, laughing as Sanji opened the door and just yelled for the other crew members.

"HEY SHIT-HEADS!" the man yelled. "DINNER'S READY!" he yelled, and one by one, the two missing people filed in. Wisteria noted them each, and tried to guess their occupation on the ship. First in was the green haired man, she knew he was the swordsman by the swords at his hip and by how she'd seen him fighting earlier. Next in was a skeleton, and Wisteria gasped, making the crew laugh.

"That's Brook, the musician." Robin grinned, and the girl gulped. Somehow, the swordsman seemed scarier than the musician. Noticing this, Robin laughed softly, looking at Zolo.

"Wha-?" he asked, and Robin glanced nodded at Wisteria.

"Seems that of all the people to be afraid of, our guest is afraid of you, Zolo." She smirked, and Sanji laughed.

"Shut up, Curly-brow!" the swordsman smirked.

"Make me, moss-head!" he laughed, and Wisteria chuckled.

"See? There's nothing to be afraid of." Robin said, and Sanji suddenly stood up silently, walking to the counter and picking up a plate and placing it in Chopper's usual place before walking over and opening the door to reveal a surprised Nami. Everyone at the table suddenly fell silent and alert, watching their navigator's every move until she sat down

"Chopper's still working." She said quietly, and everyone resumed their previous conversations, but with much less vigor. Nami turned and smiled softly at Wisteria.

"My name is Nami, I'm the navigator on this ship." She smiled, sticking her hand out. The girl took it.

"My name's Wisteria," she smiled. "I was in the cell across from your captain." She said softly, knowing he was a taboo subject currently. "He protected me." She said, sounding almost guilty, but Nami just smiled.

"You're a sweet kid, don't feel like it's your fault. There isn't a person on this ship that he hasn't come close to dying for, except the captain himself. As a matter of fact, he beat up the captain of the Fishman Pirates just to help me and my village." She said loud enough for everyone to hear her. Catching on immediately, Robin smiled.

"He nearly died for me when I was captured by the navy." She smiled, shooting a quick, pointed look at everyone around the table. Slowly catching on, they each gave their own stories.

"He beat up a nasty pirate that was planning to kill my friend for her money." Usopp said.

"He saved me from being all alone and got me my shadow back." Brook said, somehow filthy.

"He helped me get back to what I loved most by making me join his crew." Franky smirked.

"He got me on the path to fulfilling my dream, and saved my caretaker's precious restaurant." Sanji grinned

"He saved me from being executed and made me be a pirate," Zolo began, and they all frowned at the word 'made.' He looked up from his food and winked quickly at the girl. "To this day, I don't regret my decision one bit." He said, and Nami turned to look at the girl again.

"See? Don't feel bad for this. We got payback in full from the people who owed us, so there's no need to worry about whose fault it is, because it's no one's fault." She smiled, and the rest of the crew did as well.

After dinner, each of the pirates went to do something different. Zolo went to train, Franky went and was designing new ship parts, Sanji stayed to clean up in the kitchen, Robin went to take a bath, and Brook practiced his music in the crow's nest, setting a sweet ambience for those on deck, who were Wisteria, Nami, and Usopp. Usopp told a story Nami had heard thousands of times over, but listened nonetheless.

"…the goldfish was so big, that when I landed on what I'd thought was an island, it turned out to be his poop!" he said, and the little girl laughed. "you can imagine my surprise when I tried to light a fire!" suddenly, the door to the infirmary opened, and the little doctor stumbled out.

"Everyone!" he called, and the entire ship got silent and solemn as the little doctor spoke. Everyone made their way to the deck.

"So?" Zolo asked when everyone was assembled. Chopper took a deep and well-deserved sigh, then looked up with a smile.

"Luffy's okay." He smiled. "There were many gashes, bruises, burns, and lots of internal bleeding throughout his body, but he's okay now, for the most part. By tomorrow, he should be up, but let's hope not literally." He sighed, and the crew felt much lighter than they had earlier. Brook even started playing a lighter tune into the night as everyone fell asleep that night. Well, almost everyone.

Zolo sighed softly, looking at the infirmary door. He had originally come up to get some clean air, but ended up stopping here. He frowned. Was it better to open the door and see his captain now, or to wait until the teen was ready to be seen? He closed his eyes to think, but fate chose for him, his hand subconsciously reaching for the doorknob, his eyes snapping open as his fingers touched the cool, smooth metal. He inhaled deeply and turned the small knob with conviction until the latch clicked. He exhaled as the door creaked open and he stepped inside.

He almost fell to his knees as the door clacked shut behind him, the dim lights in the room showing Zolo a sight he never hoped to see again: his captain in _so much pain._ He berated himself mentally for being so weak and unable to take on the torturers and captain when he needed to. He looked at the still form of his own captain.

Hair plastered to his forehead with sweat, face drawn in a look of anguish, fists clenching the thick blanket at his sides. He knew Luffy was in pain, so he did the only thing he could think of to alleviate his captain's pain. He brought his hand over to his captain's forehead and removed the currently hot washcloth with a cool, wet one. He smiled in amusement as Luffy took a big sigh and his fists unclenched, and sat down in a chair next to the bed, decidedly alleviating his own pain.

"I'm sorry, Luffy." He whispered, watching the young captain toss and turn in his sleep, keeping a silent vigil over his captain as a sort of penance. Soon enough, though, he was asleep as well.

Chopper walked into the infirmary the next morning to give the captain more medicine, and smiled softly when he saw the pair. He administered the medicine as gently as he could and left, knowing by the captain's heart rate that he'd be up in just a few more hours.

Waking up to the crisp, sterile smell of the _Sunny's _infirmary was probably the best comfort Luffy had had in awhile. He didn't even bother to open his eyes at first, just took a deep breath and smiled he heard the deep rumble of the swordsman's voice somewhere to his left, along with the higher pitched voice of the doctor. Seconds later, he opened his eyes.

"Where's my hat?" he asked, his voice still rough with sleep, making him frown as he looked around. Zolo smiled, and as did Chopper.

"Feeling better?" asked the little doctor as he leapt down from the chair he was standing on and climbed onto the one the swordsman had slept in. He looked over his captain, and Luffy made a move to sit up, but winced at movement in his left arm, and his first mate stiffened, knowing it was from where he had been stabbed. The captain sat up nonetheless, despite the doctor berating him harshly for it. He opened his mouth in a wide yawn, and Zolo couldn't help but roll his eyes at the dramatic grumbling in Luffy's stomach. In a flash, the blankets were thrown in the air, and by the time the little doctor realized what had happened to his patient, Luffy was already skidding to stop himself for a turn as he ran out the door.

"SANJIII!" came a loud yell from the deck, and the cook sighed, not looking up from his cooking.

"Just get in here and siddown, ya shit-head!" the cook snapped, and the girls at the table laughed, making Sanji grin stupidly. The door burst open and the captain ran at top speed to his usual seat and sat down. He looked around again, and frowned, confusing the crew.

"Chopper, you never answered me," he pouted, and the doctor looked even more confused. "Where's my hat?" he asked, and the girl walked over, holding the famous straw hat nervously in her hands. Defying the expectations of his crew (as per usual), Luffy grew solemn and waited patiently for his hat to be returned to him.

"Here," Wisteria said quietly, handing him the hat. "Thank you." She said, and he frowned slightly, holding the familiar hat in his hands.

"For what?" he asked, and she looked at her feet.

"For saving me." She said, and the captain laughed.

"I didn't save anybody." He smirked, looking proudly around the kitchen at his crew. "They did." He said, and she shook her head.

"No, you took my place when they said they wanted to torture me." She said, tears forming in her big green eyes. He smiled again, though not his usual grin. This time, it was like the one he had seen 12 years ago when one man had given up his arm for the survival of one simple anchor.

"I just listened to instinct." He smirked, and she leapt up onto him, giving him a huge hug. Unused to that kind of contact, he looked a bit dazed at first, then placed his hat firmly on his head and returned the hug with the usual grin. Nami turned to Robin with a small smirk.

"I guess he can be grown up when he needs to be, huh?" she asked, and Robin laughed, nodding.

"Sorry to ruin the moment," began Sanji, walking over to the table with a large platter of food. "but there's foo-" he said, interrupted by a long rubber arm snaking out and snatching a large piece of meat from the platter he was holding. "your death will be slow and agonizing." Sanji muttered, placing the platter on the table. Luffy put Wisteria back on her feet and smiled at her once more as he loaded up his plate with food.

"Wisteria!" called Chopper, scooting over to the edge of his chair. "You can sit with me until Franky makes you a spot." He grinned, and she smiled, running over and taking the seat next to him. Soon, she got the full experience of a family meal, and had never been happier.

"So Wisteria," began the captain at the head of the table. "Didja wanna go home?" he asked, and her face lit up like 1,000 suns.

"Really? You mean you'll take me?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Sure, if it's in the New World." He shrugged, and she frowned.

"Oh…no…I'm from the South Blue." She said quietly, and he frowned too.

"Then I guess you'll just have to stay with us until I'm King of the Pirates." He shrugged, stuffing a huge piece of meat in his face. She grinned even wider than before.

"I'd love that!"


End file.
